There are 3 major types of energy in the world, Tribal, Collective and Individual. Understanding these energies and how they work is a helpful foundation in understanding your interaction with others. Understanding your energetic makeup and the makeup of those around you can make it easier to predict how people are going to react in certain situations.

Tribal energy is all about the survival of the tribe. A tribe has rules and roles that everyone in the tribe is expected to live by. Members of the tribe often sacrifice personal freedoms to be a part of the tribe. A tribe can be a family, a team, an organization, a country and all of these may express a lot of tribal energy. Most of the conflicts in the world are caused by two or more tribes with conflicting beliefs. These can be as simple as two tribes believing they own the same piece of land or tribes having different religious views. Tribal energy tends to be black and white with little gray. You either fit within the rules of the tribe or you are out of the tribe.

Individual energy is unique to the individual. It is an expression or understanding that is uniquely ones own. Because of this it can be hard for us to understand individual energy or expression. Art is a common form of this expression. Often when we look at art, we either get it or we don’t. If you are having a person with a lot of individual energy explain something to you, you may get it or not. It can be frustrating for someone with individual understanding to explain something because the way they understand is so integrated within them that it is hard to come up with context to explain it to us.

Individual energy is often mutative. The individual takes an existing thing, like a dance step, and transforms it into something new like Michael Jackson when he invented the moon walk. Now I think most of us understood his moon walk, but it was so individually talented that not many of us could imitate it.

Collective energy is having harmony with everyone doing their own thing. Think of a big city where there is a neighborhood that is a real mix of cultures. Each family carrying out their own beliefs and traditions in this neighborhood everyone is okay with the other families doing their own thing. In another similar neighborhood, there are problems as the tribal energy creates distrust over the others being so different.

Collective energy doesn’t care it is really about the experience. Individual energy doesn’t care it is all about the expression. Tribal energy cares deeply that the ways of the tribe are kept.

Ultimately most of us are a blend of these three energies. Some of us lean more toward one then another. Usually it is the situation that will bring out a particular type. On the sports team we are tribal but out for a social get together we may wear a purple shirt and flash our individuality or take in the array of different people and relish in the collective.

Here is a chart of 6 of the 7 circuits in the Human Design system. The 3 energies are labeled by color. (You can click to enlarge it)

What People are Saying

Just wanted to send you a quick update, and thank you again for your help with shedding (A HUGE) light on my daughter’s Human Design. Even though there isn’t an official handbook for parenting, I take a lot comfort in knowing that I can add HD to my parenting toolbox! 😉 I’m absolutely blown away by your knowledge on this topic; it’s so fascinating and I’m eager to learn more about it. I’ve noticed an awesome shift in my home since our session; the tips that you gave us to help us with our daughter- that are in tune with her design – have helped tremendously. Peter, thank you….and thank you for approaching such a sensitive topic with such love, compassion, and understanding. It means so much to me!